MotoGP | Taramasso: “Misano test crucial for the new front tyre”

With the problematic Spanish stage of Motorland Aragon now behind us, MotoGP is turning to Italy for its second Italian event. This weekend, the Misano World Circuit will host the Grand Prix of San Marino and the Rimini Riviera. Among other things, this will be only the first of two weekends that will exceptionally be held on the circuit named after Marco Simoncelli, given that in two weeks there will be an encore with the Gran Premio d’Emilia Romagna, which will take the place of the one in Kazakhstan, cancelled due to force majeure.

If in Aragon the problem was the lack of data on the new asphalt, to which was added the rain that worsened the conditions, on the Romagna track the exact opposite situation will be experienced, because it is used very often for private tests by almost all the brands of the premier class. Therefore, both the teams and Michelin have a large amount of information, as the head of the French company, Piero Taramasso, explained to us.

“Misano is a circuit that is a bit more friendly to us. We know it well, not only because the Grand Prix is ​​held there, but because it hosts both the official and private tests, so we are a bit more relaxed than in Aragon. Unfortunately there is the risk that there could be some storms during the weekend, but unfortunately we can’t do anything about the weather conditions,” Taramasso told Motorsport.com.

In light of this, what kind of choices have you made for this weekend?
“As for the rear, we opted for the same stiffness as last year. The soft and medium have the same compound centering as 2023, the difference is that they are just made with the new technology. Both are asymmetric tires, with the harder shoulder on the right side. At the front, however, we have three symmetric solutions, but they are all one step harder than last year’s race, a bit in line with what we also did in Austria and Silverstone: we increased the stiffness because we saw that the bikes are increasingly demanding on the front. Among other things, Misano is a circuit that tends to put particular stress on the front tire, because there are aggressive braking sections, but also many corners in sequence, so there is never any ‘rest’.”

You mentioned the risk of thunderstorms earlier: what kind of track is Misano in case of rain?
“They redid the asphalt a few years ago, but it’s a surface that behaves well in both dry and wet conditions. There’s grip, there are no potholes and you usually find ‘normal’ temperatures, not too high or too low. Then we have a lot of data, because almost everyone goes to test at Misano when they do private tests. We’re ready for this first weekend, which will help both us and the teams prepare for the second, which we’ll surely all arrive at with clearer ideas.”

Monday will also be a day of important collective tests, especially in view of the choices to be made for 2025…
“We will test the new construction for the front with the race drivers, after a pre-screening with the test drivers. After hearing their feedback, we will make a decision about the possibility of introducing it already in 2025 or if some small evolutions will still be needed before doing so. We should have already done a first test in the Monday tests at Mugello, but it was cancelled due to the rain that arrived that day, so we are quite late and we hope that the weather will be mild on Monday. Also because there are no more tests until Valencia and that is a very particular circuit, which requires asymmetric tyres also for the front. Misano on the other hand is a truly perfect circuit to test, especially the fronts”.

This weekend will also see the final round of the MotoE season, with at least four potential title contenders still remaining…
“It will be the last weekend of the season, where the name of the world champion will be decided. We have seen some spectacular races so far this season, so I expect that to be the case at Misano too. We will also do a test on Thursday, with a view to trying out some new solutions for 2025.”